Questions for White House Over Benghazi Just Beginning

It has been a sickening few days for those of us who have closely followed the revelations coming out about the Benghazi terror attack that killed not only Ambassador Chris Stevens and diplomat Sean Smith, but also CIA operators (and former SEALs) Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, who died undertaking a rescue mission — unauthorized — to save the rest of the consulate staff.

We’ve learned about the incredible heroism of a CIA force that repeatedly called for help for as it was being attacked. Disturbingly, we learned that this force had been told to “stand down” twice by their chain of command, and that they violated direct orders to conduct this rescue mission. Our consulate staff was left to die.

Let me say that again: our consulate staff was to be abandoned and left to die.

We’ve also heard claims about why Ambassador Stevens was in Benghazi to begin with: some sources suggest this was part of an Obama administration plot to arm Syrian rebels.

We should tackle each of these related issues separately.

For starters, we now know that not a single American life should have been lost. Trucks with with the Islamist cell’s logo and with heavy machine guns mounted on them took up blocking positions around the consulate no later than 8:00 p.m., according to Libyan eyewitnesses. These so-called “technicals” did not let anyone in or out for one hour and 40 minutes, until the attack began at 9:40 p.m. local time.

In that time, air assets based in Italy, Sicily, and the Mediterranean Sea could have easily dispatched the forces preparing for an attack, using precision weapons to destroy these logo-identified blocking vehicles. There is every reason to believe that the timely launch of air assets would have destroyed the attacking force as they prepared for their assault, without the loss of a single American life. For reasons as yet unknown, these easily identifiable enemy assets massing for an attack on the U.S. consulate were met with indifference by U.S. forces.

Our CIA assets, which seem to have been composed of former SEALs and other special operations personnel, conducted an unsupported rescue mission under fire. They saved the lives of the remaining consulate staff and recovered the body of Sean Smith, whom they then escorted back to their safehouse a mile away.

Once there, they came under fire again — including fire from a terrorist team armed with mortars. Then something truly extraordinary and troubling took place:

At that point, they called again for military support and help because they were taking fire at the CIA safe house, or annex. The request was denied. There were no communications problems at the annex, according to those present at the compound. The team was in constant radio contact with their headquarters. In fact, at least one member of the team was on the roof of the annex manning a heavy machine gun when mortars were fired at the CIA compound. The security officer had a laser on the target that was firing, and repeatedly requested back-up support from a Spectre gunship, which is commonly used by U.S. special operations forces to provide support to special operation teams on the ground involved in intense firefights.

After reading this, I was simply stunned. According to the article, an American CIA agent had a laser on a target and was attempting to call in close air support — and was denied. While this article never explicitly says so, some have suggested that the “security officer” in the article was Ty Woods, soon to be killed by that same mortar. Let’s unpack this.

In this context, there are two ways to “lase” a target. One is simply using a visible laser designator/laser sight to point out the target’s location. The second is the use of a laser target designator (LTD), which is a far more sophisticated device. An LTD uses coded pulses of a band of light not visible to the human eye, and these pulses communicate and synchronize with an aircraft-mounted module to direct a finite and fairly exclusive family of air-launched guided weapons.

If the CIA officer was lasing a target with the laser designator/laser sight on his weapon, one might argue (and some have) that this was an act of improvisation — a hope that the visible lasing would convince the mortar team to flee their position in fear of being bombed. This position is not without merit but overlooks two salient facts. The first is that these security officers lasing the target were manning a heavy machine gun, which presumably would have the reach and power to eliminate the mortar team, or at least suppress it, without air support. It also overlooks the fact that the article directly states that the target was being lased for a specific asset, a “Spectre.”

Airborne gunships have been around since the Vietnam war, when C-47 transport planes were first equipped with port-side mounted miniguns for close air support missions, becoming AC-47s.

By 1967, a desire to improve upon the concept involved replacing the aged twin-engine C-47 base aircraft with the four-engine C-130, which had greater speed, more fuel, and a greater capacity for weapons and ammunition. These AC130s carried various nicknames, including “Spooky” (inherited from the AC-47) and “Spectre,” the latter of which has been the most publicly recognizable name of these powerful ground support aircraft.

If the CIA operators were using an LTD, it additionally means that air assets were not in Italy or Sicily on the ground. It means that strike aircraft were overhead, and were denied permission to fire from someone in the chain of command. LTDs must sync with overhead aircraft; they have no deterrent effect since they use a spectrum of light we cannot see and can only communicate with craft overhead.

I will caution that this is highly speculative, but an LTD would presumably not be used for just any variant of the C-130-based gunships. While we did have AC-130 gunships based close to Benghazi, they would not make the best use of targets lit by an LTD. The AC-130 uses guns, not guided weapons.

The same cannot be be said of another “Spectre” variant, the MC-130W.

The MC-130W is built to use precision-guided weapons, including the GBU-44/B Viper Strike glide bomb and the AGM-175 Griffin missile. Both are laser-guided weapons that can be directed using a ground-based LTD. Both are weapons designed to be highly accurate, with small warheads to greatly reduce the danger of collateral damage. They are precisely the kind of weapon an experienced CIA operator would call in if they wanted to reduce the threat of collateral damage, like the kind of damage that might be caused by firing an HMG from a rooftop.

If this is what occurred, it seems that even in weapon selection, the primary concern of the HMG operator was saving innocent lives.

But we do not know at this time which actually occurred. Based upon the information we can glean, we’re left with two most probable outcomes.

Either the Obama administration refused to launch close-air support aircraft from nearby bases that could have eliminated enemy forces attacking Americans trapped on the ground, or we had close air support aircraft overhead that could have taken out the terrorists that had Americans under fire with precision weapons — and the administration refused to let them fire.

The moral cowardice of both decisions is unconscionable.

Writing yesterday at the Weekly Standard, William Kristol asked ten questions of the administration, attempting to discover how the White House in general and President Obama in particular responded to the unfolding attacks. It is not a terribly exciting list of questions for the most part, nor was it intended to be. The questions emulate those that might be asked in a criminal indictment:

1.) To whom did the president give the first of his “three very clear directives” — that is, “make sure that we are securing our personnel and doing whatever we need to”?

2.) How did he transmit this directive to the military and other agencies?

3.) During the time when Americans were under attack, did the president convene a formal or informal meeting of his national security council? Did the president go to the situation room?

4.) During this time, with which members of the national security team did the president speak directly?

5.) Did Obama speak by phone or teleconference with the combatant commanders who would have sent assistance to the men under attack?

6.) Did he speak with CIA director David Petraeus?

These are questions of leadership and basic competence that must be answered. Did Obama actually lead? If he did, who under his command failed?

Then Kristol asks the more provocative questions.

7.) Was the president made aware of the repeated requests for assistance from the men under attack? When and by whom?

8.) Did he issue any directives in response to these requests?

9.) Did the president refuse to authorize an armed drone strike on the attackers?

10.) Did the president refuse to authorize a AC-130 or MC-130 to enter Libyan airspace during the attack?

These ten questions alone could end a presidency, but they are far from the only questions swirling around Benghazi. As noted earlier, we face the question of what Ambassador Stevens was doing in Benghazi without security.

Some are speculating that Stevens was in Benghazi to facilitate the transfer of weapons to rebel forces in Syria fighting the regime of dictator Bashar Assad. This is the position of former CIA operative Clare Lopez.

Through shipping records, Fox News has confirmed that the Libyan-flagged vessel Al Entisar, which means “The Victory,” was received in the Turkish port of Iskenderun — 35 miles from the Syrian border — on Sept. 6, just five days before Ambassador Chris Stevens, information management officer Sean Smith and former Navy Seals Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed during an extended assault by more than 100 Islamist militants.

On the night of Sept. 11, in what would become his last known public meeting, Stevens met with the Turkish Consul General Ali Sait Akin, and escorted him out of the consulate front gate one hour before the assault began at approximately 9:35 p.m. local time.

Retired Admiral James Lyons notes various sources claiming: ”One of Stevens’ main missions in Libya was to facilitate the transfer of much of Gadhafi’s military equipment, including the deadly SA-7 — portable SAMs — to Islamists and other al-Qaeda-affiliated groups fighting the Assad Regime in Syria.”

Barack Obama has long had a cozy relationship with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and their alliance with Islamists in Syria battling Bashir Assad has been criticized before.

If Ambassador Stevens was facilitating weapons transfers from Libya to Syrian Islamist forces aligned with al-Qaeda, via his Turkish alliance, then we are at a troubling, perhaps catastrophic point in this republic’s history.

We have been at war with the Islamist hydra of al-Qaeda for more than a decade, and now sources are accusing a sitting president of arming this enemy.

Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

Providing munitions to al-Qaeda-aligned Islamist forces would seem to meet that standard.

The Obama administration has the most damaging charge of all to which it must answer, and can be offered no quarter.

SORRY but Obama is a joke,but at the same time the joke is on us for being fooled by a fool which makes us foolish so I hope we learned our lesson and never elect anyone based on feelings.Go out and vote so we can rebuild and restore America and give the world a leader and real hope for the future.

This is exactly the way the rest of the world sees it.There is a good chance that the fool and the buffoon will be reelected by the same fools and buffoons.In this case we will have four more years of fun!America the world’s laughing stock.

And just which weazly Republican will levy a charge of treason? John Bonehead, Mitch McMumbles, or quasi attack dog Issa? After all, Issa let the whitewashing “look” into operation Fast & Furious to proceed without actually questioning Eric “The Red” then you throw in O’Dismal’s hiding behind “executive privlege”. And just why aren’t the Marxist Media Megaphones calling for O’Dismal’s head (figurately)?

Let’s not forget, we were arming these enemies a year ago. Hell, we gave them MORE SUPPORT by way of air sorties against Quaddafi than we did OUR OWN PEOPLE last month! Just to put it into context, how many missions were flown against Quaddafi last year? Thousands? Maybe. Certainly hundreds. In support of our ambassador and his staff? ZERO.

Think of this. Egypt has been demanding the release of the Blind Sheik. Word leaks out that the Obama Administration is considering it. The press grabs it and informs the country.

Obama has an ambassador in a dangerous Middle Eastern country with a lot of chaos. Terrorists “attack” the compound. Perhaps they were there to kidnap the ambassador?

The CIA begs to intervene, but they’re told to stand down. Maybe the administration wasn’t worried about the guy who’d been running weapons through Turkey. Maybe they knew al Qaeda wouldn’t kill him, because he was already buddies with them and this was a planned gig.

Right after the thing is botched and everyone dies, notice the immediate calls to “capture Americans in order to ransom them back” for terrorists being held in our prisons?

Personally, I think the only two guys who were casualties were the former Navy Seals. Had they not stepped in and botched Obama’s plans, they’d be alive today, and we’d already have shipped the Blind Sheik to Egypt.

You hit it bother. If it were a kidnapping apparently the Ambassador wasn’t in on it. Whatever the details I agree this was one giant setup. There was an op run through the government. Nothing else explains the reduction of security in the previous months. The excuse most offered that Obama wanted a ‘low profile’ in Libya so as to prove the claim AQ has been pacified is ridiculous. Are we to believe Obama was worried the American media would report, and incredibly the Republicans would complain, there was too much security in Benghazi?
The only problem is if the WH was running the op why didn’t they have better escape routes? “It was the video” excuse, so horrifyingly unbelievable, is only a childish attempt to explain the motivations of Muslims. It does nothing to answer beginning, middle, and post event questions. Wouldn’t you think the blame-Meister’s planning included intense focus on CYA? Why is his escape route so pathetic he’s reduced to stonewalling and faking outrage at being questioned? Yes, it could simply be hubris.
Whatever happened it certainly seems planned, and it certainly seems portions of the American government was involved.

This is exactly the kind of story that I’ve been waiting for from PJMedia. Thanks for posting it. The facts that are coming out on this travesty need all the exposure that we can give them. I’ll be forwarding this article to everyone I know, and I hope others are doing the same thing.

And yet the lying media runs cover for the first black president and fawns over appearances he makes on crap-TV. I suppose I should expect nothing more than that. They have proven themselves to be poor stewards of the truth for several years now. OK…conveniently there’s a whopper of a storm on the Eastern seaboard.

*whew*…something to serve as a distraction so the mediots can hide and pretend to cover the “news”.

Four Americans are dead.

Oh..but the storm.

Obama, Clinton, Panetta et all lied.

Four Americans are dead.

The government acts as if it’s no big deal, the other specter that is Obama can’t give yes/no answers. He is talking like a high school sophomore trying to explain why he doesn’t have his homework done. Yet the media ignores the obvious and refuses to inquire about it.

If a republican president had done this (unlikely) well, remember Iran-Contra? The hearings that went on for WEEKS and resulted in the big fat nothing?

Remember the media and the claim that WMD never existed? Yet they ignored it when it was proven that they did?

How can America defend against a lying media?

Ignore them. They are NOT the government. They are NOT appointed or elected representatives of this nation. They are, instead dyed-in-the-wool socialists who think they are incredibly intelligent and that the masses can neither read nor understand the implications of the events of 9/11/12.

They are wrong.

Four Americans are dead.

This isn’t a tea-party gathering on the DC mall. It’s not a campaign event. It’s not partisans trying to discredit the president.

“How can America defend against a lying media?
Ignore them. They are NOT the government. They are NOT appointed or elected representatives of this nation. They are, instead dyed-in-the-wool socialists communists who think they are incredibly intelligent and that the masses can neither read nor understand the implications of the events of 9/11/12.”

Turn the lying enemedia off and unsubscribe from all their propaganda rags.
But remember too, the so-called elected representatives have not been much better than the enemedia.
Yes, we are Americans seeking justice, but where do we turn to get it?

Our own president let four Americans twist in the wind rather than take the political risk to help them. Worse, he never gave them the proper security they needed in which to operate in a very dangerous part of the world. That alone should be grounds for impeachment. I just hope that if Obama loses this election, Congress doesn’t just forget about this and sweep it under the rug. That would be doing such a disservice to the men who died that night and to their families as well, who most certainly deserve the truth about what happened on 9/11/2012 at Benghazi.

Tyrone Woods was painting a target with a ground laser designator (GLD). Those are only used when the air asset is overhead, ready to fire. The jihadis can use cell phones with night-vision capabilities to see the laser beam, which then pinpoints the location of the person using the GLD. As a former Navy SEAL, Woods would’ve known that. He would only have exposed himself if he thought that the mortar squad was about to be taken out. The air asset didn’t fire, and Woods and Glen Doherty were killed by the mortar squad.

Thank you – and to repeat this, YOU DON’T PAINT THE TARGET UNLESS YOU HAVE CONFIRMED OVER-HEAD SUPPORT. This means Woods knew he had air support up and fully EXPECTED that support to engage the enemy.He knew the consequences if they DIDN’T- certain death. And now you see what happens when gutless bastards are in the field, in Command Centers and in the White House. When the target is “painted” and the shit has clearly hit the fan, the men I knew would have responded. Obama is unequivocally the head of this Treasonous act and it flows right down to the captain flying the aircraft. We are so deep in shit and all anybody does is keep slinging the shit to cover the truth. For the sake of all who have died in defense of the principles of a Republic, please don’t let this Marxist bastard off the hook.

Yes it does, and the entire concept of “treason” abandoned a very long time ago.
If Jefferson Davis and every Confederate officer over the rank of Colonel werent hanged,
there is NO SUCH THING as treason.

Half of Hollywood, The Media, and The Education Industry would be up on scaffolds if that statute held any water today.

Notice that “death” and a five year sentence are the same punishment …

I’ve always said it doesn’t take 10 or 20 years to punish someone,
when a few seconds at the end of a rope will do it more efficiently.

Today even vicious child murderers are routinely spared the Death Penalty.

‘Life imprisonment without parole” means, after the victims family has been bullied by lazy Prosecutors into accepting a “plea” that spares the him the Death Penalty, the guy who raped and murdered their young child will DEFINITELY be let out of jail some day, by some sniveling Governor who ought to be hanged for…

“If Jefferson Davis and every Confederate officer over the rank of Colonel werent hanged, there is NO SUCH THING as treason.”

That’s that prosecutorial discretion thing in operation. If nobody brings the charges, and in this case it would have to be Obama’s own justice dept., the offense might as well not exist, as you say. The Constitution doesn’t REQUIRE prosecution of the charge. It simply states the conditions which allow it. Sometimes other considerations outweigh the value of making the case. I’ve said repeatedly here that Obama should be turned out of office by the voters for having been found wanting. That’s all an impeachment would get you anyway, the loss of office. It wouldn’t get you criminal prosecution for anything.

So keeping in mind what happened to us when we impeached a popular sitting president in 1998, where’s the political payoff for Republicans and conservatives massing to hound America’s first black president? For an instant of triumph, we sacrifice political legitimacy for the next 20 years.

I swear when I hear good conservatives and true talking this nonsense of impeachement or prosecution, I really think we have a death wish.

The best legal minds of the day walked away from the chance to win fame as Jefferson Davis’ prosecutor because they all concluded secession was not unconstitutional.

Three states–two northern, one southern–ratified the constitution with the proviso that if they didn’t like the way things turned out, they would rescind their ratification. No other state said boo about that.

No other state said boo when New England states threatened to secede over the Louisiana Purchase and the War of 1812 (and Jefferson’s embargo).

No Confederate politician killed any of his people just to get re-elected. The Southern states left the Union; they didn’t try to destroy it or to change it. They just opted out, much as they had opted out of the British Empire.

The Radical Republicans wanted nothing more than Davis, Lee, and, especially, Benjamin’s heads on pikes. Benjamin escaped to Europe, Lee had a military parole, but they kept Davis as their guest in some Yankee prison, Pt. Lookout or Ft. Monroe, IIRC for quite some time. Meanwhile, they took a case that has become well known, Ex parte Milligan up; kind of an inconsequential thing about bonds, but basically it was the test case about the legal status of the Confederate States. Didn’t work out well for the Radicals before the USSC.

The Southern states had every right to secede. Under the Constitution they had every right to own slaves. Under the Constitution the Southern states had every right to be left alone about it by the Goddamned Yankees, and I was well nigh on adulthood before those were two words.

We can have an interesting moral discussion about slavery, but there is NO legal discussion, and if there were it wouldn’t have required a war and three Constitutional Amendments procured at the point of bayonetts to make it illegal. Next question?

Hahaha, can we now? An interesting, fascinating discussion about whether or not owning another human being in chattel bondage is morally acceptable?

Maybe in the Godless void of your relativistic morality that might be some interesting tea-party chatter, but for those of us who live in a world where right-and-wrong don’t depend on the latest 18th century legal opinions our friends dug up, that ceased being interesting, let alone a discussion, a long time ago.

Davis was not hanged, nor did he suffered a day of ‘Torture” or “Waterboarding” (shackles are humiliating, not torture) whereas the “Northern” President was ASSASINATED by pro-slavery forces.
Even with that atrocity committed, Lee immediately becomes a Beloved Folk Hero, with little rancor ever affixed to his name even from Yankees.

Now ask yourself how would Mother Russia, or Mozambique, or any other “victor” have treated those who took up arms against her AND LOST?

The South got treated better in Defeat than ANY OTHER defeated political force in the history of man. You know that.

You’re a sharp guy Art, you often and quite clearly articulate here how Democrats and their Union Bums game the political system to advance a completely immoral agenda…You are very specific in your descriptions of their tactics, of how they stay just barely under the cover of rule, procedure, precedent and law, in order to push for “results” that are clearly at odds with what those laws were specifically designed to PREVENT. You are very good at exposing the “mechanical” methods they use to explain away/advance their treachery.

How is it you can’t recognize the same treachery of “hiding behind the rules” with regard to the aims of the Southern Confederacy? Namely, advocating a SLAVE DRIVEN Economic Empire, expanded BEYOND their own borders into the Caribbean and Mexico, to such an extent it (could) rival the powers of Europe and Yankeedom.

Was that NOT was an immoral thing to persue? And, given their Prior Agreement to the Declaration of Independence, in which they (we all together) proclaimed Natural Rights to be Supreme Moral Law of God himself, and all forms of arbitrary man-made Tyranny and Bondage simply crimes, was hiding behind a supposed “right to secede” to promote and advance Slavery NOT a contradiction of the very principals of that Compact?

NOT betrayal of its intent?

NOT excuse of the “light and transient” variety to break up the nation,
and conveniently mask simple avarice with a veneer of Rule?

Gaming the rules in order to achieve the OPPOSITE of what those rules were put in place to ensure,
is a dishonorable thing to do. You’ve made many a convincing argument of that variety here,
and I do always value your insights into how those evil forces operate.

Pity we cannot see eye to eye on other topics of the same exact same variety.

Wrong. The North didn’t have any ideals. The Northern states practiced slavery and apartheid, and were behind Tidewater Virginia in voluntary emancipation till the turn of the 19th century. If they wanted to free slaves, they could have let the Southern states secede and become a sanctuary for runaways, instead of their having to make it all the way to Canada.

After keeping their finances intact through compensated, gradual emancipation, they could have worked for a similar deal for the South, perhaps backed with Western lands. Oh, I’m sorry; those lands were Free Soil for Free White Working Men.

Many Northerners advocated slaughtering all white Southerners and repopulating the Southern states. That’s what you, in your post, say you wish had happened.

Once in control of Southern voting, Northerners disenfranchised white Southerners and enfranchised black Southerners, so long as they voted radical Republican, for the stated goal of achieving and maintaining a permanent Republican majority.

In other words, those Northern “ideals” were killing people to get re-elected, much the same as what Obama just did in Libya. At least Obama only kills opportunistically, and not with the hatred with which you write.

My great-grandfather, who married a woman who grew up on a farm alongside two intact families of free people of color, was a defender of our home, not a traitor.

Unfortunately for you, the Southern states were in the legal right when they seceded. In those days, states had actual sovereignty and stuff like they’re still supposed to today only thanks to a lot of knuckleheads who mostly point to the Civil War, no one state ever pushes their sovereignty too far.

What the South did wrong much to the everlasting shame of the rest of us is to push their rights to the extreme of actually leaving the Union over an issue where they were clearly in the legal and moral wrong. Slavery was wrong, but secession wasn’t. It’s too bad that the way we allow our schools to teach history that the two things are now forever linked.

“What the South did wrong much to the everlasting shame of the rest of us is to push their rights to the extreme of actually leaving the Union over an issue where they were clearly in the legal and moral wrong. ”

Exactly. I’m an American first. I’ve lived in many States, and never gave two shits about any of them. Being an American, as intended by The Declaration of Independence, and as won by The Revolution, trumps forever all other territorial and administrative concerns…PARTICULARLY any disingenuous pissing contests initiated by Immoral Despots in States seeking the FURTHER advancement of a form of Slavery that is clearly incompatible with the principals on which we were founded upon.

If anyone today feels the current Federal Government is out of control, then it needs to be brought under control….the means of which may include the Force of Arms if necessary, but ONLY by citizens doing so under the ORIGINAL Star Spangled Banner.

It astonishes me that no one seems to be considering the possibility that Obama knew AHEAD of time what was going to happen. That if his presidency was purchased for him last time via overseas donations, then he might owe third-party actors big time, both for that election as well as for the upcoming election and the on-going overseas donations pouring into his coffers via the internet.

If Obama had been told before the Al-Queda attack, he could have made sure there was no protection for the consulate. He could go to bed that night without having to make any decision other than to “stand down” and “do not shoot”. And he could have flitted off to Vegas the next day, doing the only thing he is good at: campaigning.

The man’s middle name is Hussein, for God’s sake. It should be clear by now that he hates America and Americans, and will do everything in his power to undermine any exceptionalism that still might exist four years after his election. And how better to undermine America than to slaughter its warriors abroad and make the rest of us feel both like failures and like we should maybe start to cozy up to the terrorists since they appear to be powerful and omnipotent.

We are looking at Caine Mutiny time, Obama’s eyes are tic’ing and twitching in rat-like angst, and he’s starting to blame a bowl of strawberries for being racist and against him. I start to wonder how much more the Pentagon and Petreus will take before they mutiny against this nut-job we have in the Oval Office.

We are not going to get the truth on this before the election, the media is attempting to keep the lid on for 8 more days, but eventually we are going to find out what happened. The fact that no military intervention was permitted when we had multiple assets near the scene, when we could have flown in a quick reaction team of Deltas is completely unbelievable. A squad of Deltas with air assets above would have sent all of the Al Queda forces to hell in a very quick hurry. Direct action and hostage rescue is their specialty, and there are none better than the Deltas at it in the world.

If Bam Bam refused to order assistance he is incompetent at best, or a coward of the first order. Panetta’s excuse of not knowing the situation on the ground is complete BS. If the situation is unknown, and this one wasn’t based upon the CIA operatives communications, you would send a bigger force and get air assets overhead quickly. 2 F-16′s or F-18′s would have obliterated the opposing ground force in 2-3 passes, especially with an operator on the ground relaying info, something SEAL soldiers can do in their sleep.

This story when told, will become O’s legacy. More evidence of Democrat incompetence when it comes to matters of national security. Martial events are beyond their understanding.

Their predecessors were pitiful things,
Scurrying from hovel to hole.
Believing themselves the “masters of all”
They plotted and planned for “control”.
“Control” of the food, and clothing, and goods,
Which the industrious created and owned.
And in all their meetings and hidden trysts,
They were sure they were quite unknown.

Modern “caves of power” are opulent now,
Rich carpets caress their feet,
They are swathed in the suits of “leaders”,
Riches flaunted for all to see.
And still they plot and plan for control—
But their goals have grown it seems
For their Master, they would cripple souls
In a world that still seeks to be free.

With a word, their threats may cover the earth,
With a snap, minions rage and burn,
And through it all, they still recall
The scorn which their forefathers earned.
For they neither sowed, or toiled, or spun,
They just took what their betters had earned,
These secret conspirators, in their secret haunts,
Using the secrets only the wicked learn.

Despite the world’s seeming worship,
Regardless of power and wealth,
They remain the children of robbers,
Who steal victims’ lives and health.
They believe themselves above the law,
Yet One so much greater, unseen,
Knows all their plans in every land,
And He champion’s our world’s liberty.

In every land, in every time,
The reports are legion, and true.
How The Great God of Heaven succors His own,
Despite what the wicked might do.
Though they plot and plan with their master
Yet our Awesome God trumps them all,
As we pray with belief, asking Heaven’s relief,
THEN OUR FATHER SHALL ANSWER OUR CALL

Nature’s fury on the East Coast REMINDS US of our constant need for Divine Care:

Of our families and friends.
Of our cities, our highways, our shores.
Of our crops and fields.
Of our soldiers in far away places, and at home.
Of our FUTURE, our FREEDOMS, and our cherished WAY OF LIFE

Regrettably, it sometimes requires threatened danger to cause us to REALIZE OUR NEED for that God of Our Fathers WHO ESTABLISHED THIS NATION and kept us free (against overwhelming odds and impossible challenges) for more than two centuries.

Ovomit has violated his Oath of Office; has sacrified our Benghazi martyrs; has lied to America always and in all things; and has conspired with our enemies to DESTROY OUR REPUBLIC. Don’t let him.

Sorry, and I intend no offense but this is no “Nixonian” mess-up. This is well beyond a break-in in order to attempt the sabotage of an election.

However, while Nixon insisted he “wasn’t a crook”, Obama now has to insist that he isn’t a murderer. See, because Watergate never resulted in the deaths of Americans. This one responsibility is the first and paramount charter of the office of the president and he failed at it.

One can only wonder as to why.

Optics
Hatred of America
Support of muslims
disbelief that Libyans could even consider attacking the consulate after he rid them of Ghadafi
Failure to acknowledge that Al-Queda is very much alive and not “on its heels”
A hostage plot gone wrong
Coverup for a gun-running op to Syria

Who knows? Although we care, only the facts as they become known can be prosecuted. And should be.

But the serious of this will not go away. Many of us knew that like a spoiled child, this a**hole would keep pushing the limits of getting away with things until the American people wouldn’t stand for it anymore. That time has come.

Republican leaders and some democrats are asking questions. However, republicans fear that making any demands will hurt their candidate. But conservatives believe the opposite is the case that NOT asking questions now will be more damaging and show great weakness. This is weakness we cannot afford.

Romney demonstrated in the first debate that he can politely, firmly and without prejudice point out Obama’s failures. Issa, Boehner, McCain, et all need to take that as an example and demand answers.

My concern is this, because I have no doubt that Obama has committed impeachable offenses, but what, if anything, will happen when he loses the election? Will they bring charges against an outgoing president? Try him for treason? Or will he be allowed to retire to his giant mansion in Hawaii and pardoned “To help heal our nation.”? This bothers me. The thought that he might just be allowed to slink off into the sunset. This is not some sneaky-stealing-files-Watergate-thing. This is murder. Dereliction of duty. Treason. I pray they do not let Obama off the hook.

There are other scenarios though they are scary. I believe–feel free to disagree–that we are witnessing the collapse of Liberalism and specifically of Progressive Liberals. Look at the economy of the world, the state of the main currencies, the effect of birth control on the economies of the world, the declining populations of industrialized nations, etc. We are witnessing a perfect storm of gigantic proportions. My prediction is that Progressive Liberalism is about to implode. May be their messiah will suffer the consequences. My grandfather used to say something very wise, something I could fully understand only recently: “Those who like to play the redeemer must be ready to be crucified.” If B.O. is defeated ignominiously it will be HIS defeat–and you know very well how the left treats losers–This election may only be the first spark in the huge fire that will consume the folly of the Progressives. Daniel 11:40-45 “He will come to his end by himself and for him there will be no helper.”

Two key points from the State Dept conference call of Oct. 9th, which is available on the State web site.

1. Some sort of backup was sent from the embassy in Tripoli. When a reporter asked how many and if it was the full security team from Tripoli, the state dept guy would not answer. If it was the full team, why not say so?

2. Another reporter asked how the number of attackers on 9/11 compared with other attacks in Libya and at other embassies in the past. State dept guy says it was an “unprecedented” assault. So they knew it was a much larger force than they had seen before, which means that a handful of personnel were not going to be able to repel the attack, which means that they needed much more help. That’s important, because it voids any claim that the administration thought the personnel that were there could handle the attack without assistance.

Bob, The Treason committed in shipping arms to Al-Qaeda is one form. The Treason he committed against American Citizens serving there, is another! Granted the arming of Al-Qaeda terrorists in Syria is anathema to any American who cares about this country and those Murdered on 9/11/2001! The Betrayal of the men on the ground in Benghazi is Militarily criminal! With 2 drones and an AC-130 Spectre Gun Ship overhead and targets painted, to give the order to “Stand Down” and watch these American Heroes Die In Real Time, is a Crime and Betrayal, Worthy of Judas! This is why President Judas will forever be known as the Butcher of Benghazi! That POS, Occutarding the White House deserves to be Perp Walked just like he did to the producer of the youtube video, that the SOB, decided to Lie to the American people over, to cover his BETRAYAL! Dereliction of Duty May Be The Understatement of the Century, in describing this Heinous Act of TREASON, committed by President Judas on 9/11/2012! Woods & Dougherty are Heroes Betrayed by a Bastard We Elected! What Are We Going To Do About It?!?!

To Paratisi–to answer ur query, ‘what are we going to do about it?’
Sadly, I say, nothing. The usaual hand-wringing and tsk-tsking, however as to
‘doing’ anything…nothing. The politics of this nation is without spine and
corruption abounds.
jl

OK, here’s where we pay for our traitorous heritage; the British considered our Founders to be traitors and treated them as such. Franklin was serious when he talked of hanging together or hanging separately; the British would have just loved to hang the luminaries. Our treason laws reflect that our Nation was born with a treason sentence hanging over those who gave it birth. So …

When one calls Comrade Obama’s actions or inactions treason, one must define enemy. It doesn’t take much of a guardhouse lawyer to conclude that an enemy is one against whom war has been declared and there ain’t one. There are bad guys, people who don’t like the US and who mean us harm, but we haven’t named them, can’t name them, and since we can’t haven’t declared war on them. There is no enemy, consequently, there is no treason. This is a political issue: vote early and often.

I agree. Looked at legally, from a defense point of view, Obama has many possible defenses, He could, for example, claim that he was afraid of producing Islamic civilian casualties that would be used to inflame giant mobs all across the middle east, causing embassies everywhere to be stormed and occupied. This is how a coward thinks, which is why they are said to die a thousand deaths — cowards worse-case everything. However, it is also an example of a president using his rotten judgment to advance, as best he can with his defective sense of honor, US interests in an emergency.

Hence it is a political mistake, not a crime, and should be punished politically.

Obviously.
Can you dredge up the sailing schedule of Libyan-flagged vessel Al Entisar which was pulled up in Benghazi on the 11th?
It would be interesting to see if it pulled out on the 12th with a load possibly from the Benghazi Mission Warehouses…

If these roadblocks started going up at 8PM, and Ambassador Stevens saw the Turkish consul off at 8:30PM, there are two very big problems here. First, that would mean the attackers let the Turkish consul out – not surprising, but what’s the angle on this in the larger picture, and second, did the Turkish consul not see these people on his way out? If he did why didn’t he warn the American consulate that they were being surrounded by hostiles? This is just another very troubling and unanswered aspect of that evening’s timeline. Something is extremely wrong with this picture.

I realize that my comment isnt exactly on point but I just have to say that judging from the reported actions of our SEALS, I’m thinking that Benghazi is going to be in the history books someday alongside the Alamo and Mogadishu and countless other examples of extraordinary courage from Americans under fire. The same for the names Woods and Dogherty.

“We have been at war with the Islamist hydra of al-Qaeda for more than a decade, and now sources are accusing a sitting president of arming this enemy.

18 USC § 2381 provides us with a legal threshold for treason:

Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

Providing munitions to al-Qaeda-aligned Islamist forces would seem to meet that standard.

The Obama administration has the most damaging charge of all to which it must answer, and can be offered no quarter.”

I give you this:

“Over the last several years, the presence of Muslim Brotherhood (MB) operatives working inside the federal government advising our senior leaders has been definitively documented (see articles here, here and here). This penetration of our system is shocking and constitutes an immediate danger for American citizens. The success of the MB’s influence operation from within our government is now manifesting itself with national and global implications for the security of America and its citizens,” so says John Guandolo, as referenced by Brigitte Gabriel at Act For America in an email newsletter today.http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/10/23/CIA-Hosts-Training-By-Muslim-Brotherhood-Leader-and-Hamas-Supporter

Is it time that Americans declare loudly — as did Cromwell — “The enemies of this country have flourished under your protection,” the “your” being Charles I?

Why did it take the FBI 4 days or more to get to the consulate to scoop up whatever leftover paperwork was still there? If there were troops on the ground and ships in the air, why couldn’t American personnel get in to secure the consulate after the murders happened?

And I don’t understand why the FBI was involved at all. I thought the division of labor was FBI = inside America, and CIA w/all the other initialed agencies = outside America. Is FBI part of the cover-up?

“Why did it take the FBI 4 days or more to get to the consulate to scoop up whatever leftover paperwork was still there? If there were troops on the ground and ships in the air, why couldn’t American personnel get in to secure the consulate after the murders happened?”

Do you know that FBI have been there and secured materials? I don’t. I read that the security situation was too dangerous for them. It was CNN several days after the attack that found the diary.

DaOne, and company have been following an agenda from day one. The Arab pagan spring blood bath is just one part. This CFR controled government has brought Israel’s enemies to greater power, and once again the United States suffers with a giant storm.

I mentioned this theory in the comments section on Ace’s website on Saturday. It was not original but I read the idea in the Canada Free Press. Most people thought I had my tinfoil hat on. If you look at history the us and other govts have allied themselves with one enemy to defeat another…I dont have a major problem with arming the anti-Assad forces-ragheads killing ragheads….but covering up the murder of 4 patiots is outrageous.

Obama needs to stop running for president and start on his pardon list. Thankfully there at least one person a president cannot pardon. As I write that it occurs to me that he’s too self serving a weasel to sacrifice himself for his cronies. They will have to turn on him ASAP to salvage any of their agenda.Right? What he really needs to do is resign today with enough time for Biden to pardon him.
If he sticks it out,an impeachment will expose enough truth to finally have this deluded traitor finally disgraced and imprisoned. (God willing) I wish the same could be said for all his MSM co-conspirators.
It’s disgusting that my liberal family has not heard a word about the facts of this story from the MSM and they are dutifully distrustful of any other news sources. Sadly they continue to echo that all discussion of Benghazi 9/11 is a Romney driven political gimmick.

This is the second place I’ve read that a president cannot pardon himself. I’m not so sure that’s true.

Here’s a logical type problem, very abstract, to show why I think a president must be able to pardon himself. Suppose Mr. Whatisname is president, and Congress passes a law Whatisname wants to veto. Congress also passes a law saying that it is against the law for Whatisname to veto this bill. President Whatisname goes ahead and vetoes the bill anyway, then pardons himself. Congress is now forced to impeach (and convict in the Senate) to remove Whatisname from office if they are still unhappy about the veto. Thisis the constitutionally specified mechanism for bringing an unpopular president to heel.

If Whatisname is not allowed to pardon himself, then Congress can dispose of him much more easily than by going down the impeachment route, which is why I think presidential self-pardons are permitted. The reason it hasn’t happened so far is that it is obvious political suicide unless the president’s political opponents are misbehaving in an equally egregious fashion.

What? If congress tried to pass a law saying it was illegal for the president to veto some other bill he could just veto the bill making vetoing illegal before it could come into effect. There’s already a mechanism in place for over-riding a presidential veto.

Barack Obama loses his bid for re-election. January 19,2012 he resigns, President Biden, in his first and only action as President, proceeds to pardon Obama and whom ever else is on the pardon “to do” list.

I read early this morning that Secretary of State Clinton had asked the White House for increased security for Benghazi—and had been denied.

At least our weatherman-in-chief is hands-on mobilizing “all available resources” for preventative support from a malevolent storm named Sandy.

I ask where was our commander-non-chief when the lives of our fellow Americans were hanging by a thread on a rooftop in Benghazi with help located only one hour away, off-shore, and overhead?

Yet…….NO ONE, in charge, summoned the fortitude to give the go-ahead to prevent murder-most-foul.

Our Sacred Honor and the lives of our heroic servants were cast aside in the demanding campaign burdens to reach Las Vegas on time to blame IT ALL on that VIDEO.

At least President Obama’s Secretary of Justice, Eric Holder, tracked down the perpetrator for the video and law enforcement brown shirts were dispatched to haul the author off to immediate confinement—so the campaign schedule could get back on schedule.

The President says that he ordered an ‘anything necessary’ order ‘immediately’. The order was not carried out. Who has been fired for this clear breach – refusal to follow a direct order? Panetta??? Petraeus???

William Kristol could push even harder on this by not only by asking ‘to whom did the president give the first of his “three very clear directives”, but also by making the point that his instructions could not have been very clear if just 10 days later he couldn’t remember what he had claimed his number one priority was.

Oct 16th in the presidential debate: “Number one, beef up our security and procedures, not just in Libya, but at every embassy and consulate in the region.”

Oct 26 TV interview in Denver: “make sure that we are securing our personnel and doing whatever we need to”

“doing whatever we need to do” is a far cry from just “beefing up security”.

The “Secret” annex was swarmed. MANY were killed (This is still being hidden)
Obama is in this up to his eyeballs. This involves weapons, politics, a weak foreign policy and a President who has no regard for the lives of those he leads.

There are too many people that know what happened to keep the lid on this much longer. Too many people are struggling mightily with their consciences after being ordered with threat of ruin to their personal careers if they speak publicly, but someone, one voice in the crowd will speak out because these agencies and assigned military personnel are patriotic people that will not be able to sleep knowing the truth has been bastardized by this criminal president.

The author missed a few facts before jumping into unsubstantiated accusations into pure guess work. Start with the range of the US heavy machine gun. Presumably, the is a Browning 50 cal with an effective range of 1800 m. The Soviet 82mm light mortar has an effective range of >4,000 m. Unless they were positioned closely, suppression of the mortar by the machine gun would have been impossible. There is no way the author would have knowledge on the location of Spectre in any of these type of operations. Any thoughts that the author had about the mindset of anyone at the NCA level is pure speculation and is more likely to reflect the author’s prejudices than to have any resemblance to reality.

Look at all of the obvious steps and information that the White House had in this military assault, and then come out blame an obscure video that no one has seen. The media should be held to account along with this administration. This whole sick mess should be seen by every person in we have in our armed forces, they have the right a least to know who is on their side…

My prediction. Nothing will come of this. Obama has already shown the way he will play this. Just deny. The press that half the country watches will continue covering just calling it a crazy conspiracy. And that half of the country that refuses to believe it won’t let any action be taken. Riots, marches and shouts of racism. We lost this country long ago when we let ourselves and our kids be indoctrinated by public school teachers. Now we have to pay for it. I apologize to the few decent teachers out there but you also stood by while it was happening.

Before the overthrow of Qaddafi, it was clear the US was arming the ‘freedom fighters’ in the eastern province of Cyrenaica. It was also clear that many of the ‘freedom fighters’ in Cyrenaica were the very same people who had fought against us in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the leaders we were supplying weapons to in Cyrenaica had even claimed to be al Qaeda.

Then the same MO happened in Syria. We were either arming people we didn’t know — or whom we did know were terrorists. The weapons went from Libya to Turkey to Syria. Clearly Stevens met with a Turkish official in Benghazi, right before he was assassinated, because he didn’t want to meet him in Tripoli.

BTW: It’s common knowledge — and has been since before the downfall of Qaddafi — that Cyrenaica was one or two of the top areas in the world supplying foreign fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan to fight against us.

Why has there not been any interviews from the people that were actually at Benghazi during the attack? There were surviors. If there have been some interviews, please let me know where they can be found.

Jennifer Griffin has stated that she has contacted sources that were on the ground about the Former Navy SEALs being denied permission to go to the consulate. But I have not seen or heard of any testimony or reports from people that were actually there.

Where are they? Why aren’t reporters, or congress, appearently interviewing people that would have actual information and not opinion and rumours? Why can’t we get actual answers to questions?

The initial cover story was that a video-induced mob did the dirty dead. Now how would one know that? Did Gallop commission a survey group that arrived at this conclusion. Even if it were a mob-induced action, how would one know that it was the movie that induced the action. A little thought suggests that this was a story with no basis in realty. A story that put the onus on actions inside the country rather than in the Islamic world. How strange that the

Why has Romney not jumped on this? He is likely getting security briefings by this time. Is it possible there is information Romney is aware of that must be kept secret even by him? Thus the muted response?

Just heard from my son, in Illinois,; he reported that visible support for Obama is almost non-existent there, in his western suburb of Naperville – the crossroads of the USA; BUT, more interesting, is the buzz on social media regarding Bengahzi. He said there is a deluge of outrage about the murders of our ambassador and the three defenders, who were left to die on that rooftop, 9/11/12, at the hands of Islamic terrorists after appealing for help from US superiors.
This is great news, considering the blackout the MSM has imposed on those who do not use social media. All hail the technology that has broken the back of propaganda.

consider these two statements:
“Trucks with with the Islamist cell’s logo and with heavy machine guns mounted on them took up blocking positions around the consulate no later than 8:00 p.m., according to Libyan eyewitnesses. These so-called “technicals” did not let anyone in or out for one hour and 40 minutes, until the attack began at 9:40 p.m. local time.”
and
“On the night of Sept. 11, in what would become his last known public meeting, Stevens met with the Turkish Consul General Ali Sait Akin, and escorted him out of the consulate front gate one hour before the assault began at approximately 9:35 p.m. local time.”
if the “technicals” were not letting anyone in or out of the consulate after 8PM, how did the turkish consul general get out at 835PM—was he in cahoots with them? did he set up the meeting to trap stevens?
OK, maybe ive been reading too many whodunits…………

The whole damned kit and caboodle, State, Defense and CIA epically failed those in Benghazi and they epically failed America. Anyone in any of those three government entities who tried to do something to save those at Bengazi and was blocked from doing it needs to fully speak out right now or else they are after the fact co-conspirators with Bloody Hands Obama by their silence. The two former Navy Seals gave their lives. Can’t eye witnesses to this treachery give up some career advancement and come forward?

There is just no way around it. Thirty some Americans were deliberately left to be murdered. The mightiest military ever on Earth and no one lifted a pinky finger to help them except the two former Navy Seals who died while saving most of the rest of the Americans.

The whole damned kit and caboodle, State, Defense and CIA epically failed those in Benghazi and they epically failed America. Anyone in any of those three government entities who tried to do something to save those at Benghazi and was blocked from doing it needs to fully speak out right now or else they are after the fact co-conspirators with Bloody Hands Obama by their silence. The two former Navy Seals gave their lives. Can’t eye witnesses to this treachery give up some career advancement and come forward in some format and give testimony?

The building formally known as the White House has become a G-d damned mega mosque whore house of servicing Muslims. The Wimpy Weasel there masquerading as a Commander-In-Chief has no regard for America and it’s Constitution or his own county’s citizens and he is an all out son-of-a-bitch, traitor, and chronic liar!

Bob, come on! The Lybians we admitedly armed and directly assisted, were openly accepting of and working with AQIM! They said as much in TV interviews.

Obama already armed Al Qaeda! Where was the outrage then?

AND he worked with them in a joint operation that ended the life of Gaddafi. He was a bad guy, but any way you cut it, that is still a war crime. Obama has no legal standing to assassinate a sitting head of government… He could be tried in The Hague…

Somewhere between 5pm and 6pm, Wash., on September 11, 2012, DC time, President Barack Obama gave the orders (it involved a number of questions put to him so the word, “orders” is plural) that squelched any rescue effort at the consulate in Benghazi. As a result, Smith and Stevens were murdered.

Obama separately, later, said “no” to sending a rescue mission to the annex where the SEALS, Doherty and Woods, were coming under heavy terrorist fire. And were subsequently killed by terrorist fire.

Obama lied about all of this.

He’s lied about a lot of things since becoming President, but these lies are egregious. They’re contemptible. These lies are tantamount to being criminal; traitorous.

In the eyes of the founding fathers, ObamaActions relating to Benghazi would be equivalent to exhibiting cowardice in the face of the enemy. A kind of retreat to save your own skin at the expense of your brothers in arms.

Although the constitution does not in black and white lay out the penalty for ObamaActions, common sense does. The commander in chief has no justification for committing these crimes. His cowardice, fear of losing the Nov. 6 election; desire to avoid any blame that might hurt his chances for re-election outweighed his duty to preserve, protect and defend the citizens of the United States.

Obama needs to turn over his sword. I call for him to resign on or before November 6, 2012.

One thing that doesn’t seem to add up. In your article, you cite a report that the Islamists in Benghazi had surrounded the consulate by 8pm and were not allowing traffic in or out of the area until after the attack at 9:40pm. At the same time, we know that the Turkish diplomat meeting with Amb. Stevens left the consulate sometime after 8pm and before 9pm.

How did the Turkish diplomat get through the Islamist cordon?

One theory that makes sense of this is that the Turks were in the process of helping Islamists transfer Libyan weapons to Syria and Ambassador Stevens was actually trying to block or foil such efforts. Stevens was, perhaps, meeting with the Turkish diplomat to discuss this very issue. The Turkish diplomat may have had a mission to convince Stevens to allow the shipments to continue. When Stevens refused, the Turkish diplomat informed the Islamists, on his way out of the cordoned area, that Stevens would not relent and the attack was cleared to go forward. In this scenario, the Turks were complicit in the attack on the consulate and Stevens may have faced some type of ultimatum from the Turkish diplomat.

“Both are weapons designed to be highly accurate, with small warheads to greatly reduce the danger of collateral damage. They are precisely the kind of weapon an experienced CIA operator would call in if they wanted to reduce the threat of collateral damage”

Low collateral damage does not mean no collateral damage.

So what happens if one goes off-course or lose laser tracking and lands in a building full of civilians? You just created a recruitment poster for Libyan terrorists.

In the real world, there are myriads of reasons why seeming viable options are not taken for a response. Unless we have the same information the decision makers did with the training to assess those information, none of us are qualified to speculate on what actions should have occurred.